Subsidy instead of a brake – lazy rental compromise of turquoise-green

The battle for a rent brake ended with a points victory for the ÖVP. Instead of a limitation of the reference rents, there is a housing cost subsidy that is financed from the budget. That is not good news for some 480,000 households that live in an apartment in an old building. For them, the rent will automatically increase as of May 1 – probably by no less than 8.6 percent.

One million households benefited from subsidies
The solution also benefits many of Austria’s remaining 3.5 million households. Everyone, including home and apartment owners, who do not exceed a certain income, now receive about 200 euros in housing assistance. The government estimates that approximately one million households will benefit from the subsidy.

The problem here: the money comes from the state budget, it has to be distributed by the states and housing assistance has to be applied for, it is not paid out automatically. The countries must first determine the exact modalities. The model of the city of Vienna, which was presented a few days ago, provides orientation. Here, single-person households with an annual income of less than 40,000 euros and multi-person households with a maximum of 100,000 euros receive a housing bonus of 200 euros.

Experts: Rent increases continue to drive inflation
ÖVP club president August Wöginger praised the grant as “socially oriented and fair” in an interview with “Krone”. The green coalition partner was less satisfied. “I have the impression that the ÖVP was concerned with preventing the rent brake from the very beginning. It kept making new demands during the negotiations,” spokeswoman for green housing Nina Tomaselli told the “Krone”. Experts criticize that the inevitable rent increases continue to drive inflation.